Mahalo! Mahalo! Mahalo! All of you demonstrated immense generosity through support of the Hawaii Foodbank and its affiliates. We set a goal of raising $75,000, and we surpassed that, raising more than $82,000! With rising food prices, the need is greater than ever to help where we can, and I truly appreciate our members stepping up to the challenge to help our communities. While I don’t have enough space here to thank each of you individually, please know that I appreciate you with all my heart.

We are now in the second half of 2021, and there are some major happenings that will be coming up soon. First, the Hawaii House of Representatives formed a Joint Committee on Judicial Selection, composed of 6 members appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the House, Senate President, the Chief Justice, Hawaii Women Lawyers, and the HSBA. I will be serving as the HSBA representative, and am interested in hearing your thoughts about the judicial selection process. Please read through the purpose of the HCR5 committee, and email your thoughts to [email protected].

Next, the HSBA is working on this year’s Bar Convention, scheduled for October 15, so please save the date. While this feels like it is a long way out, it will come up sooner than expected. We expect many great and relevant programs to be presented and it is a good time to ensure you receive your required annual CLE credits. The convention will be conducted virtually, and as much as I would love to get everyone together in-person, your safety is much more important. I am hopeful that next year we will be able to have large in-person events and can learn and socialize together again.

Succession planning and transitioning out of practice will also be a hot topic, especially for our solo attorneys. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel will sort through an attorney’s files if the attorney becomes disabled, dies, is disbarred, or disappears (4D), but this comes at a cost and the ODC may recoup its costs from the attorney’s estate. It would behoove a solo attorney to set up an agreement with another attorney to handle client files in the event of a 4D situation to prevent client (and estate) headaches down the line. Comment 5 to Rule 1.3 of the HRPC provides guidance that that duty of diligence may include setting up such an agreement.

Finally, I want to wish all of our future attorneys who are taking the July bar exam good luck! You got this! 

- Levi K. Hookano, HSBA President                                                 

Watch the HSBA President Law Day YouTube video at this link https://bit.ly/33bu3Me